Speedster DNA
by steepedinshadows419
Summary: Barry takes his teen speedster twins on their first run against Iris' wishes. She isn't pleased, but she forgives easily. Barry/Iris. One-shot.


**A/N:** Drabble 6 for my Flash season 5 countdown. Enjoy!

Based off the line: "What do you mean you took the twins on a run?!"

 ***** Many thanks to **sendtherain** for beta'ing.

 ***** I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

...

Iris stood at the kitchen sink doing dishes, a smile on her face as she scrubbed and then set each dish on the nearby towel to dry.

It wasn't that she was particularly in love with doing dishes – or cleaning at all for that matter. Barry didn't excessively use his speed outside of his superhero duties, but when he was home he often did do whatever cleaning was necessary at super speed, and she was incredibly grateful for it.

He'd been gone all day though, and the twins were still in school. They both had extracurriculars, and the sun was starting to set. She'd taken a step back from front-and-center duties at STAR Labs long ago, so she didn't know what crimes or near-crimes the Flash and Barry Allen had stopped that day. Regardless, his day was obviously a long one. She figured the least she could do was the household chores.

And besides, her life was really good. She had an attractive, amazing, superhero husband who looked at her every day as if he was falling in love with her all over again. She had two beautiful speedster children, who thankfully listened to their parents and didn't use their speed publicly – at least not yet. And she had a thriving investigative journalism career. She had a handful of great, loyal, brilliant friends, and three amazing siblings, as well as the best father in the world. While she didn't believe herself truly in need of a mother any longer, Cecile West had become what felt like a very endearing, protective older sister. Probably the closest thing to a mom she had after Francine died, and before that too if she was being honest.

Her life was so full. In quiet moments like these, it was easy to smile.

The whoosh behind her caused her hair to float around her shoulders. She quickly dried her hands and turned around, eager to greet her husband and plant a kiss on his weary face.

But that was not who she saw when she turned around.

"Don?"

His eyes were alight with excitement. Before he could respond though, his sister sped into the room.

Sped. Using super speed.

"Dad took us on a run!"

Iris' eyes widened and then narrowed, because a beat later Barry was in front of her, looking flushed with groceries in his arms.

"Hey, Iri-" His face fell when he saw the look his wife was giving him.

"Nora told her!" Don burst out. Nora smacked him. "Ow!"

"So, it's true," Iris said.

"Kids." Barry gestured, and they both sped away.

"No, let them stay. They should hear what their fa-"

But the kids were gone before she finished her sentence, further infuriating her.

"I took them on a run," Barry admitted slowly.

Iris' eyes blazed furiously. She knew it already from what Nora had said, but she was hoping it had been a lie to get her father in trouble. She should've known better. Nora was a daddy's girl.

"What do you mean you took the twins on a run?!"

"Just to do a few errands," he said hurriedly, setting the grocery bag down on the counter so he wouldn't end up losing items from his arms flailing about. "No crime scenes or anything like that. Central City has been pretty crime-free this afternoon."

She glared at him. _Has it now_?

"I was tied up at CCPD doing forensic stuff all morning, but then I picked up the kids from school and thought I'd surprise them."

"I thought they had extracurriculars," she said.

He shrugged. "The kids said they were cancelled for the day."

"Did they say this before or after you announced you'd be speeding around the city all afternoon?"

He opened his mouth to answer, then closed it, then a worried expression crossed his face, followed by a guilty one when he met her eyes again.

"Oops?"

She sighed. "Barry, we talked about this." She ran a hand through her hair.

"I know." He followed suit. "I'm sorry. I thought it would be fun."

"What would be fun? The kids don't have suits. If anybody – literally anybody – spotted them when they stood still for even a second and connected the dots, the news would spread. Eventually your enemies would become their enemies, and our kids' lives would be in danger."

"I know, I know…you're right."

"Am I?"

"Yes…" He sighed.

"Then, why would you do this?"

He shrugged, not saying anything.

"No, you have an opinion. Tell me what it is."

"I don't know, Iris. It's a…"

"Speedster thing?" She raised an eyebrow. He flushed. "I was a speedster once too, you know."

"Yeah, but like…for a _day_. And _years_ ago."

She crossed her arms, daring him to continue.

"Listen, Iris, I'm not-" He took a breath and tried again. "You used your speed right away when you got it, right? Like, within the hour."

She nodded. "Yeah, so?"

"I did too. And I didn't do it just in private. I mean, what could I possibly do that would be that fun? Eat really fast? Vibrate my voice? Brush my teeth at mach speed?"

"I assume you have a point."

"Nora and Don have had speedster genes since the moment they were born. They're seventeen, and they haven't been on a run before. I know it's for their safety, and I don't want anything to happen any more than you do. But…there's a difference between running in circles in the speed lab at STAR Labs and racing through the city, feeling the wind in your face, aware of all your senses. Just you and the road, it's…paradise."

Iris sighed softly, feeling herself caving.

"To be deprived of that for as long as they have? I can't imagine how…devastating that is. Especially when they see me not being deprived of that on a daily basis."

"You're the Flash!" she burst out.

"And they're the Flash's kids," he responded.

She said nothing.

He came to her, running his hands up and down her arms.

"Look, all I'm saying is that maybe…"

"We ask Cisco to construct them suits?"

"He'd love it."

"I don't want them getting distracted with being superheroes yet, Barry. I want them to graduate high school first. And can't they like…I don't know, run where no one can see them?" She paused before adding, "That isn't STAR Labs?"

He grinned slowly. "Like out in the country maybe?"

"There are fields…hills… They could practice running on water on the lakes out there."

His smile was immovable. "Look at you, wanting our children to be speedsters in public."

"In an isolated place!" she cried. "And I thought you wanted them protected too!"

"I do," he said. "I definitely do."

"But?"

"But I relate to them as a speedster too, Iris, not just as a dad." He shrugged. "Just…imagine having the need to move all the time and being forced not to because everyone around you doesn't share that feeling, and you might be in danger if you try anything."

She considered that.

"They don't do anything because we tell them not to, but their insides are screaming. You should've seen how excited they were when I just suggested it."

"Yeah, I'm sure they were." She pursed her lips. "Okay. They can go on runs in the country, every day if they want, but…they have to at least have a mask. Just in case."

He grinned. "Sounds good to me."

She rolled her eyes and brought his face down to hers.

"You're impossible," she said, and sealed her words with a kiss.

"Is it safe to come down yet?" Don called from the top of the staircase.

"Only if you want to make dinner!" Iris called back.

Neither of the children appeared.

"I guess you're on your own, Mr. Allen," she said, leaning back against the countertop.

"I think I can handle myself," he said, piling all the ingredients up that made for his wife's favorite dish concocted by Grandma Esther.

Her eyes widened, and he met them knowingly.

"Seriously?"

He grinned. "Yes, ma'am."

"You are- You are-"

She pulled him to her and jumped onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Was this your back-up plan if I didn't cave to your wishes?"

He shrugged innocently. "This, and one other thing."

Her jaw dropped, and she laughed, then latched her lips onto his again.

"Still impossible. So totally, unbelievably impossible."

He smiled into the kiss, bracing them against the nearest hard surface, which just so happened to be the refrigerator. Iris gasped, breaking away.

"Ah- It's cold."

He smirked. "I know what's not." His eyes darkened.

"Barry." Her voice dropped. "The kids are right upstairs. And they're not little anymore."

He lowered his lips to hers. "Then you better be quiet."

She gasped, but he swallowed it. Their kisses grew more intense, until she was aching for him inside of her and their children were the farthest thought from her mind.

Twenty minutes later, Don entered the kitchen.

"Hey, Dad, Nora and I were wondering when din-"

And then he was gone, breathing hard when he returned to his sister's room.

"Well? What did they say?" Nora asked, scooting to the edge of her bed. "Are you okay?"

She got up to go to the door, since he wasn't responding, and frankly, she was hungry. He barred the exit with his arm, and she looked at him, confused.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Don't go down there," he managed.

"Why?"

"They're not finished," he said, looking traumatized.

"With dinner?"

"With each other."

Her eyes widened as his meaning dawned, and she sat back on her bed. She hadn't seen what her brother had walked into, but somehow the image was clear as day in her mind.

"Oh…my God."

"Don? Nora?"

The twins exchanged horrified looks.

"…yeah?" Don shot out hesitantly.

"Did you want…take-out?"

The both sighed in relief.

"Yeah, that's fine!" he called back.

A beat of silence, then from Barry, "You want to get it yourself?"

Giddy with delight, their parents' compromising position forgotten, both Nora and Don were out of there in a flash.

Iris scolded Barry as soon as they left, accusing him of using her desire for him against her.

"It's the last time, I promise!" he said, laughing.

She smacked him, and he feigned pain.

"I doubt it," she mumbled, but they finished what they'd started and were fully composed by the time their children had returned.

As if their teenage son hadn't caught them having sex against the refrigerator before Barry had so much as done anything besides taken the ingredients out of the grocery bag.

"It'll still be good tomorrow," he reasoned.

Iris didn't complain.


End file.
